


You To Come Home To

by lovekernel



Category: Casualty (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 09:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15683031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovekernel/pseuds/lovekernel
Summary: Bea nearly breaks down over a car door after an awful day, but she's got her housemate to help her feel better





	You To Come Home To

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt by empatheticsaviour on tumblr! Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!

Watching people flow through the ED doors sopping wet from the rain, Bea hated herself for not bringing a jacket. She rummaged through her bag for her umbrella before she remembered that she left it in a taxi the week before. She was just going to have to jog to her car and hope she didn’t get soaked.

She pulled her bag over her shoulder and left the ED, bracing herself for the weather. When Bea got outside she was momentarily stunned by a deafening clap of thunder right over the hospital. She broke into a run across the car park. Intending to avoid getting her shoes soaked, Bea hopped over a puddle at the edge of the footpath. She misjudged the distance, tripped on the curb and fell hard on her hands and knees. She ignored the shock of falling and pulled herself up, cheeks burning at the thought of all the people who probably saw that, and kept going.

Out of sight of the ambulance bay, Bea slowed to a walk, just then becoming aware of the pain in her limbs. Feeling a wet squelch under her feet she realised that her trainers had landed in the puddle anyway when she fell. She stopped under the bus shelter to inspect the damage. Her palms were grazed, bleeding in some places, nothing major but full of dirt and burning from being rubbed against the tarmac like a cheese grater. She looked down and discovered a rip in one leg of her favourite jeans, paired with a streak of red on the denim. Bea thought quickly about running to the ED and getting cleaned up, but at the idea of going back, she decided she would rather deal with it at home.

In the short time she had been out, Bea’s clothes were completely soaked. She felt itchy and bothered from her shirt sticking to her skin and the static feeling in the air. All she wanted was to go home and take a shower, scrub away all the stress of a really tough day and feel like herself again.

But she had to get to her car first. All she had to do was get home and then she would feel better, a nice thought, but the simple steps it was going to take were overwhelming. Bea took a deep breath in. Getting over the pain in her hands and knees, her irritation, and the headache building in the back of her skull, she exhaled and finally left the bus stop.

Determined to stay positive, Bea imagined how good she was going to feel when she finished showering and got into her pyjamas. She kept that image in her mind as she walked the path to the staff car park, even as the rain fell harder, and made it halfway managing to keep her mood at a medium setting. Her thoughts were interrupted by thunder and lightning cracking the sky ahead of her. Bea always rolled her eyes at people who said the staff parking was too far away, she never thought the walk was that long and usually it gave her a chance to clear her head on her own after a busy day, but right now she was feeling it. She didn’t mind thunderstorms from inside a building, but she hated being out in them, she always felt exposed and insecure being in an open space when lightning was so close. It put her on edge again, and she started running to get to the car park and the security of her little yellow car. Once Bea got there, she unlocked the car door and pulled on the handle, praying this time it would cooperate. To her surprise, the door clicked open with a simple tug. Bea patted the roof affectionately before getting in and starting the engine.

Tried to start the engine.

Two goes at turning the ignition, receiving no response and Bea almost cried.

“Come on, come on. Be nice to me today,” she coaxed the vehicle, and on the third try the engine started. Bea tapped the dashboard, “I knew you had it in you,” she said gratefully and reversed out of the parking space, so happy to be one step closer to getting home.

The joy didn’t last long.

As soon as Bea turned off onto the main road she rolled into traffic.

It was taking all her strength not to burst into tears. She wanted to grip the steering wheel harder and channel all her frustrations out through her hands, but they hurt too much. Putting on the radio, she flipped through the stations, hoping for something to to distract herself, but all the music was terrible and all the talk shows were about politics she didn’t care for, so she switched it off and left herself in silence apart from the rain beating against the car.

Bea kept it together for twenty minutes in which she moved about a hundred metres. She reached a point where she was numb to all emotion and blind to her surroundings except the car in front of her. She just acted on autopilot. Eventually the traffic started moving and soon she was turning onto the street where her and Alicia lived.

Bea parked on the road outside their house and switched off the engine. She sat for a moment and drank in the euphoria of finally getting home after an awful day. She felt the weight of the last few hours come off her shoulders like steam.

Bea got her bag from the passenger seat, turned around and pulled on the door handle. It didn’t open. She pulled on it again and forced her weight against it. It didn’t work. She tried pulling the handle very slowly and that didn’t work either. Bea tugged on the handle repeatedly, knocking her shoulder against the door, desperately trying to get out because she felt like if she stayed in this car any longer her head would explode. That technique didn’t work.

Bea screamed through gritted teeth and let go of the door. She rubbed her eyes, pushed her damp fringe off her face and let her head drop onto the steering wheel. The horn sounded, making Bea jump and spring back.

She sat staring at the windscreen, just watching raindrops slide down the glass, too afraid to do anything else in case it failed and became the final push into insanity.

Suddenly her door opened. “Are you alright out here?”

Bea looked up and Alicia was standing beside her with an umbrella, her hair lit up by a yellow street lamp like a halo, smiling amusedly at Bea. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“I don’t know.”

Alicia’s smile fell a little, hearing Bea’s tone. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ominous. Okay, shall we go inside?”

Bea nodded, and Alicia sheltered them both as she stepped out of the car. Alicia closed the car door with a shove from her hip, took the keys from Bea’s hand to lock it, and wrapped her arm around Bea to keep her close under the umbrella as they walked up the driveway. Bea thought the last thing on earth she wanted right now was someone to touch her with the way she was feeling, but because it was Alicia it felt so natural she could have just pulled on her favourite hoodie.

As soon as they got through the door Bea sat on the stairs and unlaced her shoes while Alicia shook water off the umbrella outside the door. She shut the door and locked it for the night, then turned to Bea.

“So, what’s up?”

“Nothing. Just a long day.” Bea threw her shoes down to the floor.

“What happened to your knee?”

“I tripped.”

“Looks nasty.”

“I haven’t really looked.”

Alicia sensed Bea didn’t want to talk about it anymore so she left it there.

“We had a load of veg starting to rot in the cupboard, so I made soup! Do you want some?”

“Maybe in a bit? I really want to take a shower,” Bea said as she stood up.

“Okay, come down when you’re ready, I’ll heat some up for you.”

“Thank you,” Bea replied, as she walked upstairs. “And thanks for saving me.”

Alicia watched her climb the stairs, confused, but she shrugged and let it go knowing Bea was probably just having one of those days.

 

Bea came out of the shower feeling a bit better. It wasn’t the completely transformative experience she hoped it would be. Her mood hadn’t really improved, she still had a headache, but the hot water relieved the horrible itchy feeling of being in damp clothes for so long. She changed into her pyjamas, a stripy set with shorts to let the cut on her knee get some air, and she came down to the kitchen to find Alicia ladling soup into a bowl.

She looked up smiling when she heard Bea. “I timed that rather well. Sit down there.”

Bea sat down at the table and looked at her palms. Alicia put the bowl in front of her with a plate of toast and rested her hand on Bea’s shoulder. “Did you try to catch yourself?”

“Probably. Don’t remember. They’re still bleeding.”

“They’re still dirty. Call yourself a doctor?” Alicia joked.

Bea didn’t respond.

“Eat up,” Alicia said as she left the table.

Bea took a spoonful of soup and suddenly realised how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten since lunch and a quick glance at the clock told her it was close to 10.

Alicia came back, put a first aid kit down on the table and sat down.

Bea looked up from her bowl. “I don’t need—”

“Just keep eating, I’ll clean this up for you,” Alicia said, finding what she needed in the kit. “Give me your leg,” she ordered.

Bea obeyed, turning in her seat. Alicia lifted her leg up to rest on her lap. She tutted at the state of Bea’s knee.

“I washed it in the shower,” Bea said.

“I’m sure you did your best,” Alicia replied with a grin, ripping open an antiseptic wipe. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, let me know if I do.”

She didn’t hurt Bea at all, the antiseptic stung a little but Alicia was being very careful not to put too much pressure on the gash as she cleaned it. Bea watched her gently dabbing the wound, deep in concentration but still rubbing her calf with a warm hand as she worked.

Alicia looked up. “Alright?”

Bea nodded.

“How’s the soup? I think I added a bit too much salt.”

“It’s great,” Bea replied as Alicia looked down again. “Thank you so much.” Her voice was shaking, she was on the verge of tears again.

“Okay,” Alicia said, chuckling. “It’s just soup, no need to cry about it.”

Bea sighed, trying to keep it together. “It’s not just soup.”

“What do you mean?” Alicia asked. She glanced up and saw Bea’s eyes were red. “Are you okay?”

Bea rubbed her eyes and blinked away the tears. “Yeah, I’m grand. I’m sorry, I’m just really grateful.”

“Well, I’m not just going to let you get your knee infected. You’re a doctor, it’s embarrassing,” Alicia said lightly as she unwrapped a plaster, though she had a feeling that wasn’t what Bea meant.

Bea smiled and thought over her next few words as Alicia applied the plaster and looked up at her.

“I mean that I’m grateful that I have you to come home to,” Bea said, hearing the weight in her words as they came out of her mouth, and knowing Alicia probably heard it too.

Alicia nodded. “I’m glad you’re here.” She gently pushed Bea’s leg off her lap and lowered it to the ground, then took another wipe and picked up her left hand to clean those grazes too. “I really am. Can’t imagine this place without you now.”

Bea thought for a moment. “You’ll have to someday, you know. You’ll get married or something, and I’ll have to leave.”

“No!” Alicia exclaimed. “Not to freak you out or anything, but I think I’d take life with you over a boring marriage.”

Bea laughed loud. “Alright Alicia, tell me that again when you find the love of your life!”

Alicia just smiled and went on cleaning Bea’s hand. Bea was puzzled by the weird silence.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?” Alicia asked her.

“Yeah, thanks. Much better. It just occurred to me that hunger was to blame for half my mood.” Bea took the last bite of a slice of toast.

“You don’t work well on low blood sugar, you know.”

“I’m fully aware of that fact.”

Alicia gave Bea her hand back and reached out for her other one. “Do you want to tell me about your day?”

Bea switched her spoon to her left hand and stretched her right over to Alicia. “Think I’d rather not. I’m ready to forget it.”

“Did you get thrown up on?”

Bea pulled a face. “Gross, you could smell it? I thought I got it all off at the hospital.”

Alicia laughed. “The smell sticks like nothing else.”

Bea bent her head towards Alicia. “Is it gone now?”

Alicia sniffed her hair and only got the familiar scent of Bea’s shampoo. “You’re good.”

“Wow, what are friends for, am I right?” Bea said as she leaned back, smiling. “Thanks.”

Alicia dropped the wipe, and let Bea’s hand go. “Anytime.”

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: I realised after I published this that the premise was really similar to orimigo’s fic ’one day’ except in theirs Bea and Alicia are already together. It’s very good and sweet, go read it if you haven’t already!


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